Last night was the first time our little 5 Aspects of Woman group met. Half a dozen women, hungry to know God better, gathered around His Word. The Lord orchestrated events so that our first meeting would fall on the Jewish New Year--Rosh Hashana.
I spent the better part of this week preparing for last night's first meeting. I made and baked the round sweet challah bread which is traditional for Rosh Hashana yesterday morning before running Elizabeth to her afternoon tutoring appointment. I then rushed home and got the rest of the things I would need readied before heading to church.
I left later than I had intended. Traffic was terrible on the way to the church. Once I got there, I realized I had forgotten something (a small thing, but still forgotten). Matt came with me to help me get everything set up for the ladies. We hurriedly put everything together before the women arrived. Matt prayed with me in the kitchen before I returned to the library to begin the study.
The Lord showed me how the themes of Rosh Hashana--repentance, reflection on the sweetness of God and the anniversary of creation all tied in so beautifully with what we will be studying this year as a group and I shared all of this with the women.
The women were gracious in helping me get everything cleaned up when the meeting was done. A friend drove me home and we enjoyed edifying conversation.
I got ready for bed and was completely spent. Yet I still had to get up with Isaac four times in the night. I awoke this morning to a husband hurrying off to work for an early meeting and little ones who all needed me.
I prayed to the Lord as I read my Bible, "Lord, I just can't do this. I just can't lead this study for the next six months." And then I read this in Habakkuk, chapter 3:
17Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
He is all I need. He is my joy. He is my strength. Amen.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Paul the History Buff
Paul has always been enamored with history, but since he has begun to read independently, his love of history has really grown.
A couple of months ago, I bought Paul his first G.A. Henty book. He found the subject of the book (I bought my copy used through Amazon), which was about ancient Egypt, to be interesting. However, the books are fairly difficult reads, so Paul was getting a little frustrated.
So I got him started on some vintage Landmark history books. I saw the many titles that were published in this series at the used book store that I visited during our summer vacation. Twenty bucks a pop just wasn't my idea of a good bargain, especially when Paul was devouring a book every couple of days.
When we got home from vacation, I perused my own book shelves and was delighted to find four of the vintage editions, including ones on Lincoln and William the Conqueror. Those books were soon digested.
I looked on Amazon to find other titles, but once I saw that the reprints of the books were mostly published in the past decade, I had reservations about ordering them or getting any of them from the library. My guess is (although I'm not certain) that these have been hit with a revisionist red pen.
I then browsed some homeschool forums that highly praised the vintage Landmark histories, confirming my desire to procure some of these for Paul, knowing that if I did so, they could be handed down to three little boys behind him.
Since then, I've been on the hunt at yard sales and thrift stores for more of the books. I happened upon a small town library book sale when we visited my aunt and uncle last weekend and asked one of the ladies in charge of the sale if she had any Landmarks. She said she had just given her complete set to her adult son. So close and yet so far.
I did find a set of ten Landmark histories on Etsy. They had been sitting in the seller's shop since May, so I wasn't sure they would still be available, but they were. Matt and I ordered them for Paul a few weeks ago and he's now reading the tenth one.
So I'll have to keep looking for more books. The library is an option, but the last couple of years it just hasn't been worth it to me to spend that much time there. Our library is in a bad area of town, plus loading up all the littles and keeping an eagle eye on them while trying to approve what the olders want to check out is exhausting. I've found wading my way through the twaddle and questionable content of many of the books to be more effort than what I'm willing to put forth, but I'll probably have to begin making the effort for the sake of Paul.
In the meantime, Paul's reading has lead to some creative history reenactments. Just yesterday he commandeered his little brothers and big sisters to be members of the Corps of Discovery. Paul, of course, was Meriwether Lewis. Joel was made to be Patrick Gass and Grace, being the only red head, played Captain Clark.
Paul received this Lewis & Clark compass from his Grandpa Bob & Grandma Dianne and the leather pouch from his Uncle Trevor & Aunt Jessica for his birthday (a few days early)
A couple of months ago, I bought Paul his first G.A. Henty book. He found the subject of the book (I bought my copy used through Amazon), which was about ancient Egypt, to be interesting. However, the books are fairly difficult reads, so Paul was getting a little frustrated.
So I got him started on some vintage Landmark history books. I saw the many titles that were published in this series at the used book store that I visited during our summer vacation. Twenty bucks a pop just wasn't my idea of a good bargain, especially when Paul was devouring a book every couple of days.
When we got home from vacation, I perused my own book shelves and was delighted to find four of the vintage editions, including ones on Lincoln and William the Conqueror. Those books were soon digested.
I looked on Amazon to find other titles, but once I saw that the reprints of the books were mostly published in the past decade, I had reservations about ordering them or getting any of them from the library. My guess is (although I'm not certain) that these have been hit with a revisionist red pen.
I then browsed some homeschool forums that highly praised the vintage Landmark histories, confirming my desire to procure some of these for Paul, knowing that if I did so, they could be handed down to three little boys behind him.
Since then, I've been on the hunt at yard sales and thrift stores for more of the books. I happened upon a small town library book sale when we visited my aunt and uncle last weekend and asked one of the ladies in charge of the sale if she had any Landmarks. She said she had just given her complete set to her adult son. So close and yet so far.
I did find a set of ten Landmark histories on Etsy. They had been sitting in the seller's shop since May, so I wasn't sure they would still be available, but they were. Matt and I ordered them for Paul a few weeks ago and he's now reading the tenth one.
So I'll have to keep looking for more books. The library is an option, but the last couple of years it just hasn't been worth it to me to spend that much time there. Our library is in a bad area of town, plus loading up all the littles and keeping an eagle eye on them while trying to approve what the olders want to check out is exhausting. I've found wading my way through the twaddle and questionable content of many of the books to be more effort than what I'm willing to put forth, but I'll probably have to begin making the effort for the sake of Paul.In the meantime, Paul's reading has lead to some creative history reenactments. Just yesterday he commandeered his little brothers and big sisters to be members of the Corps of Discovery. Paul, of course, was Meriwether Lewis. Joel was made to be Patrick Gass and Grace, being the only red head, played Captain Clark.
Paul received this Lewis & Clark compass from his Grandpa Bob & Grandma Dianne and the leather pouch from his Uncle Trevor & Aunt Jessica for his birthday (a few days early)
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
I Just Need to Get Organized
I'm not sure how it happened, but I turned around, looked up and saw that summer was completely gone. I think that realization hit hard when I started schlepping kids to their Fall activities. Whoa! Where'd summer go? Now we have things that we actually have to go to? We can't just let our days run free form according to whatever are our whims or fancies of the moment? Ackk! Panic gripped me (and I'm only half kidding).
Our year is even busier than normal this year, due to a couple of added activities. I'm the queen of paring down the activity list to bare bones. My motto is "the good is the enemy of the best." We can't make our family priorities actual, lived-out priorities if we're running hither and yon all over the country side. We are home schooling. However, a couple of things got added to our calendar this year by God Himself and I'm not going to argue with Him.
Since our schedule is as full as it is, I realized I needed to take a crash course in organization. Enter the book, Large Family Logistics by Kim Brennemen. I received the book for my birthday back in January and had yet to do more than a cursory perusing of its pages until a few weeks ago (although I had been meaning to get to it all summer).
Let me just say, Mrs. Brennemen is qualified to speak on the topic of the organization of a large family. She has nine children and she has many household systems in place which keep her home running smoothly. I'm sure she has her bad days, but she does seem to have a lot better handle on the whole large family thing than I do.
I'm not yet finished reading the book, but I'm working hard to apply what I'm learning as I go along. Mrs. Brennemen advocates doing several "10 minute tidies" throughout the course of the day. She says if it takes longer than ten minutes for you and your kids to get the house looking presentable enough for unexpected company, than you simply have too much stuff. Ouch! Decluttering is key, she says.
I always keep a garbage bag in my closet so that as I find things we no longer use or love, I can throw them in there and take the bag to the thrift store when it gets full. However, the idea of the "10 minute tidy" made me realize I need to pare down even more.
I started the culling process in the boys' room. Their room, right off the kitchen and visible to anyone who visits us, is pretty much always in shambles. Paul does a decent job of picking up when he's asked, but the little boys hold Masters in Messes degrees and I always have to clear a path at night time just to get into their room. So the boys' room became decluttering project number one.
I gathered up enough toys to fill three garbage bags. A lot of it was stuff they simply didn't play with anymore, except to dump the items out of their bins and onto the floor. I even got rid of some of the toys I really liked and kept holding onto because I thought they were so neat (i.e.--flying, screaming super monkeys).
The after. Sorry, I forgot to take before pics.
Mrs. Brennamen also says that no toys should be stored in bedrooms. This has been the case for our girls' bedroom for a couple of years now and it's worked well to cut down on the messes. I just didn't do it for the boys' room and I reaped what I had sown. No more. Now the toys are all up in the school room/play room (thanks to Grace), which also got the declutter treatment this past week. The only problem for me will be to "inspect what I expect," as Mrs. Brenneman puts it. If I expect the school room to remain clean (we don't actually do school there, we do it downstairs), I'm going to have to go up there more than once a month to check on things.
The after pics of the school room. Again, sorry, no before pics
The decluttering project, still underway in other rooms of the house, is about as far as I've gotten in applying the ideas from Large Family Logistics.
As for the household systems that Mrs. Brennamen suggests, so far I'm just overwhelmed with the thought of even thinking through all of them, let alone actually doing them. Mrs. Brennamen has a rule in her house: 4 by 4. Four loads of laundry washed, dried, folded and put away by 4 in the afternoon. I detest folding laundry. Always have. My mom detested it too, so the job always fell to me when I was growing up. Maybe that's got something to do with it. However, it'd be really nice if laundry baskets of unfolded laundry were not a permanent part of the decor in my bedroom. In almost eighteen years of marriage, I've never known anything different. It's going to take some serious intentionality on my part to change that.
Not to mention making my bed in the morning (although I'm getting better at that one) or having the kids make their beds. And putting window washing and furniture vacuuming on the regular chore rotation (you mean you don't just do those things in the ninth month of pregnancy when you're nesting?).
"I just need to get organized," has been playing like a broken record in my brain for so many years. I'm naturally a neater person and disorder makes me very nervous. However, the Lord has chipped away at that idol of mine for a long time. (Guess what? It's hard to keep a house clean when little children live in it!) I won't be fulfilled if I have a perfectly clean house. Although I sure would like to experience it sometime just to make sure :)
I know Kim Brennemen wrote the book to be an encouragement and help to the mother of many, but my first born guilt genes are getting the better of me as I see how much more smoothly my household could be running if I had some systems in place.
Mrs. Brennemen does keep the main thing the main thing--that is, Jesus Christ smack dab in the center of all family life. Matt and I are doing our best to do the same with our family, but we are also realizing that a little organization could go a long way toward giving us the freedom to serve Christ better.
It's a fine line. My natural desire is to "Stop Everything!" in order to get the house to a cleaner state. However, life must go on and sometimes cuddling baby Isaac or reading another chapter of a great read aloud is just plain more important than a clean house. And I know that taking time to be in the Word as a family always trumps a clean house.
"but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matt. 6:20
I do plan to keep slogging my way through Large Family Logistics. I am leading a group of women through the 5 Aspects of Woman Bible study this year. I figure that when we go through the "Mistress of the Domain" aspect it will be a fine time for me to get together a household binder that details chore systems and the like. After all, the teacher needs homework too!
Our year is even busier than normal this year, due to a couple of added activities. I'm the queen of paring down the activity list to bare bones. My motto is "the good is the enemy of the best." We can't make our family priorities actual, lived-out priorities if we're running hither and yon all over the country side. We are home schooling. However, a couple of things got added to our calendar this year by God Himself and I'm not going to argue with Him.
Since our schedule is as full as it is, I realized I needed to take a crash course in organization. Enter the book, Large Family Logistics by Kim Brennemen. I received the book for my birthday back in January and had yet to do more than a cursory perusing of its pages until a few weeks ago (although I had been meaning to get to it all summer).
Let me just say, Mrs. Brennemen is qualified to speak on the topic of the organization of a large family. She has nine children and she has many household systems in place which keep her home running smoothly. I'm sure she has her bad days, but she does seem to have a lot better handle on the whole large family thing than I do.
I'm not yet finished reading the book, but I'm working hard to apply what I'm learning as I go along. Mrs. Brennemen advocates doing several "10 minute tidies" throughout the course of the day. She says if it takes longer than ten minutes for you and your kids to get the house looking presentable enough for unexpected company, than you simply have too much stuff. Ouch! Decluttering is key, she says.
I always keep a garbage bag in my closet so that as I find things we no longer use or love, I can throw them in there and take the bag to the thrift store when it gets full. However, the idea of the "10 minute tidy" made me realize I need to pare down even more.
I started the culling process in the boys' room. Their room, right off the kitchen and visible to anyone who visits us, is pretty much always in shambles. Paul does a decent job of picking up when he's asked, but the little boys hold Masters in Messes degrees and I always have to clear a path at night time just to get into their room. So the boys' room became decluttering project number one.
I gathered up enough toys to fill three garbage bags. A lot of it was stuff they simply didn't play with anymore, except to dump the items out of their bins and onto the floor. I even got rid of some of the toys I really liked and kept holding onto because I thought they were so neat (i.e.--flying, screaming super monkeys).
The after. Sorry, I forgot to take before pics.Mrs. Brennamen also says that no toys should be stored in bedrooms. This has been the case for our girls' bedroom for a couple of years now and it's worked well to cut down on the messes. I just didn't do it for the boys' room and I reaped what I had sown. No more. Now the toys are all up in the school room/play room (thanks to Grace), which also got the declutter treatment this past week. The only problem for me will be to "inspect what I expect," as Mrs. Brenneman puts it. If I expect the school room to remain clean (we don't actually do school there, we do it downstairs), I'm going to have to go up there more than once a month to check on things.
The after pics of the school room. Again, sorry, no before picsThe decluttering project, still underway in other rooms of the house, is about as far as I've gotten in applying the ideas from Large Family Logistics.
As for the household systems that Mrs. Brennamen suggests, so far I'm just overwhelmed with the thought of even thinking through all of them, let alone actually doing them. Mrs. Brennamen has a rule in her house: 4 by 4. Four loads of laundry washed, dried, folded and put away by 4 in the afternoon. I detest folding laundry. Always have. My mom detested it too, so the job always fell to me when I was growing up. Maybe that's got something to do with it. However, it'd be really nice if laundry baskets of unfolded laundry were not a permanent part of the decor in my bedroom. In almost eighteen years of marriage, I've never known anything different. It's going to take some serious intentionality on my part to change that.
Not to mention making my bed in the morning (although I'm getting better at that one) or having the kids make their beds. And putting window washing and furniture vacuuming on the regular chore rotation (you mean you don't just do those things in the ninth month of pregnancy when you're nesting?).
"I just need to get organized," has been playing like a broken record in my brain for so many years. I'm naturally a neater person and disorder makes me very nervous. However, the Lord has chipped away at that idol of mine for a long time. (Guess what? It's hard to keep a house clean when little children live in it!) I won't be fulfilled if I have a perfectly clean house. Although I sure would like to experience it sometime just to make sure :)
I know Kim Brennemen wrote the book to be an encouragement and help to the mother of many, but my first born guilt genes are getting the better of me as I see how much more smoothly my household could be running if I had some systems in place.
Mrs. Brennemen does keep the main thing the main thing--that is, Jesus Christ smack dab in the center of all family life. Matt and I are doing our best to do the same with our family, but we are also realizing that a little organization could go a long way toward giving us the freedom to serve Christ better.
It's a fine line. My natural desire is to "Stop Everything!" in order to get the house to a cleaner state. However, life must go on and sometimes cuddling baby Isaac or reading another chapter of a great read aloud is just plain more important than a clean house. And I know that taking time to be in the Word as a family always trumps a clean house.
"but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matt. 6:20
I do plan to keep slogging my way through Large Family Logistics. I am leading a group of women through the 5 Aspects of Woman Bible study this year. I figure that when we go through the "Mistress of the Domain" aspect it will be a fine time for me to get together a household binder that details chore systems and the like. After all, the teacher needs homework too!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Sweet Sixteen
The little girl with the red hair turned sixteen a couple of weeks ago. Matt and I can hardly believe that our Gracie has turned into such a beautiful young lady--both inside and out.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Canada
(by Grace)
Sunset from an airplane (JFK airport to Buffalo airport,NY)
The View from an airplane (It all looks like Google maps)
The reunion was held in Ontario, Canada,about two hours north of Toronto, on lake Muskoka.
(Lake Muskoka is where Grandma Ethel's parents owned a cabin that they vacationed in during the summer months with their children and later, their grandchildren.)
Holding Babies
Aunt Mary (Grandma Ethel's younger sister) and her daughter Kathy.
Aunt Mary was a great help to us during our stay at lake Muskoka by showing us the land, identifying people and photographs and sharing with us a story or two.
Pop Quiz! Who are these People?
George Popadynec and his wife. He is a professional photographer and he gave me several good photography tips.
Shimmering pine needles (Lake Muskoka)
Rainy Day ( Lake Muskoka)
Corn husking Party ( Lake Muskoka )
The two memories of the weekend that really stuck with me are:
1.This House
Its not so much the house, but the story behind it. It belonged to Grandma Ethel's Great Aunt Clara and her husband, William Odell Whiting. They built it after both their hotels burned down. The first hotel burned before it was finished, due to carpentry error. The second hotel burned as a result of a forest fire. They lost a four year-old granddaughter in that fire. (They had already lost a nineteen year-old grandson when he dove off a dock and broke his neck.)
After that, W. O. and Clara built this house, a bed and breakfast, in which they lived out the rest of their years. The B & B was passed on to their daughter Nellie, then their granddaughter, then their great-granddaughter, Bonnie. Today its still standing--one hundred years later.
Doesn't that sound like a bad mix already?
So most of us were sitting on the back porch of the Whiting house sharing stories and looking through old photographs when I spotted a picture of Grandpa Bob. He looked (surprisingly) handsome, in about his early twenties. When I commented to Grandma about his looks, she said with a smile, "Yeah. That's why I married him," and continuing she said, "You know about how we met, right?"I quickly rambled off a summarized version of their blind (canoeing) date."I think she's heard that one before," a relative said. "Well, I bet she hasn't heard the one about when I took my cousin out." Grandpa said.
"Really? Which one?"
(points to his cousin Jone sitting next to him)
"I took her out to pizza..."
"Oh."
"...and I think I wore a tuxedo."
"Whhaat? You took your cousin out?... to pizza?..."
"Mm hmm."
"...in a TUXEDO!?"
"Yes."(He had his teasing smile on.)
"Why...would you...do thaat?"
Everyone laughed.
#1. You don't take your cousin out,
#2. You don't "dress up" to take her out,
#3. and you certainly don't dress in a TUXEDO to go out to pizza.
Grandpa then explained that he had just left his brother's wedding, and had some time to kill before the reception, so he asked his cousin if she wanted to go to out pizza with him. Of course she said yes.
Random and Interesting
(Snow Mobile Trail)
Their version of the Great Value brand is No Name. It's kind of weird.
The American teenager's dream of the speed limit
Niagara Falls
We saw Niagra Falls on the last leg of our trip. The view from the Canadian side was the best.
Sunset on the American Falls (Canadian side)
Sorry about the awkwardness of this picture. I stitched several photos together, the result being this. In real life the river is actually straight.
Only for you Jimmy Buffett fans.
We saw this on our walk back to our car and I just had to take a picture. Restaurant, gift shop, margaritas and, of course, Jimmy Buffett music.
Maid of the Mist (Canadian side)
Skylon Tower (Canadian side)
American Falls (American side)
Enjoying the Canadian Falls (American side)
The Dark City (American side)
Sunset at the Buffalo airport
I would have missed this sunset if our plane had not had an hour lay over. We were only in the next airport for our transfer to the next flight for less then ten minutes. We did make it home that evening, as planned. It was a God thing. He even got our luggage home in the same night.
I was blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Canada with my grandparents a few weeks ago. Besides attending a huge family reunion (Grandma Ethel's kin), we also enjoyed some excellent food and saw Niagara Falls.
Sunset from an airplane (JFK airport to Buffalo airport,NY)
The View from an airplane (It all looks like Google maps)The reunion was held in Ontario, Canada,about two hours north of Toronto, on lake Muskoka.
(Lake Muskoka is where Grandma Ethel's parents owned a cabin that they vacationed in during the summer months with their children and later, their grandchildren.)Saturday and Sunday morning were the days of the reunion. Much sharing of fond memories, photographs, and laughter was had by all.
(Old Family Reunion - top left:(#2) Great Grandma Ethel)
3 above: Boat Ride on Lake Muskoka
(Old Family Reunion - top left:(#2) Great Grandma Ethel)
3 above: Boat Ride on Lake Muskoka
Holding Babies 
Aunt Mary (Grandma Ethel's younger sister) and her daughter Kathy.Aunt Mary was a great help to us during our stay at lake Muskoka by showing us the land, identifying people and photographs and sharing with us a story or two.
Pop Quiz! Who are these People?
George Popadynec and his wife. He is a professional photographer and he gave me several good photography tips.
Shimmering pine needles (Lake Muskoka)
Rainy Day ( Lake Muskoka)
Corn husking Party ( Lake Muskoka )The two memories of the weekend that really stuck with me are:
1.This HouseIts not so much the house, but the story behind it. It belonged to Grandma Ethel's Great Aunt Clara and her husband, William Odell Whiting. They built it after both their hotels burned down. The first hotel burned before it was finished, due to carpentry error. The second hotel burned as a result of a forest fire. They lost a four year-old granddaughter in that fire. (They had already lost a nineteen year-old grandson when he dove off a dock and broke his neck.)
After that, W. O. and Clara built this house, a bed and breakfast, in which they lived out the rest of their years. The B & B was passed on to their daughter Nellie, then their granddaughter, then their great-granddaughter, Bonnie. Today its still standing--one hundred years later.2.Grandpa Bob. A tuxedo. A hot date and the pizza place.
( From right to left: Grandpa Bob, his cousin Joan, his cousin Mary, Joan's friend)
( From right to left: Grandpa Bob, his cousin Joan, his cousin Mary, Joan's friend)Doesn't that sound like a bad mix already?
So most of us were sitting on the back porch of the Whiting house sharing stories and looking through old photographs when I spotted a picture of Grandpa Bob. He looked (surprisingly) handsome, in about his early twenties. When I commented to Grandma about his looks, she said with a smile, "Yeah. That's why I married him," and continuing she said, "You know about how we met, right?"I quickly rambled off a summarized version of their blind (canoeing) date."I think she's heard that one before," a relative said. "Well, I bet she hasn't heard the one about when I took my cousin out." Grandpa said.
"Really? Which one?"
(points to his cousin Jone sitting next to him)
"I took her out to pizza..."
"Oh."
"...and I think I wore a tuxedo."
"Whhaat? You took your cousin out?... to pizza?..."
"Mm hmm."
"...in a TUXEDO!?"
"Yes."(He had his teasing smile on.)
"Why...would you...do thaat?"
Everyone laughed.
#1. You don't take your cousin out,
#2. You don't "dress up" to take her out,
#3. and you certainly don't dress in a TUXEDO to go out to pizza.
Grandpa then explained that he had just left his brother's wedding, and had some time to kill before the reception, so he asked his cousin if she wanted to go to out pizza with him. Of course she said yes.
Random and Interesting
(Snow Mobile Trail)
Their version of the Great Value brand is No Name. It's kind of weird.
The American teenager's dream of the speed limitNiagara Falls
We saw Niagra Falls on the last leg of our trip. The view from the Canadian side was the best.
Sunset on the American Falls (Canadian side)
Sorry about the awkwardness of this picture. I stitched several photos together, the result being this. In real life the river is actually straight. 
Only for you Jimmy Buffett fans.We saw this on our walk back to our car and I just had to take a picture. Restaurant, gift shop, margaritas and, of course, Jimmy Buffett music.
Maid of the Mist (Canadian side)
Skylon Tower (Canadian side)
American Falls (American side)
Enjoying the Canadian Falls (American side)
The Dark City (American side)
Sunset at the Buffalo airportI would have missed this sunset if our plane had not had an hour lay over. We were only in the next airport for our transfer to the next flight for less then ten minutes. We did make it home that evening, as planned. It was a God thing. He even got our luggage home in the same night.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Loaded for Bear
Approximately 150 people attended a local government meeting at the county courthouse the other night so their voices might be heard on an issue that will affect our way of life around these parts. Some of my kith and kin were amongst those folks. Matt and a close friend were only slightly shame faced when their sons were asked to relinquish their numerous knives before entering the public meeting space. (The knives were returned to their rightful owners after the meeting.)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Travel: Kids
When we went on vacation last month, we planned ahead to ensure that our kids would be able to endure the long stretches of time in the van as well as the excitement that a vacation produces.
First off, I made sure we had snacks (and plenty of them) to eat in the car. Whenever we travel, I hit the Winco bulk section before we go. I buy several different kinds of trail mixes, nuts, dried fruits and yogurt covered pretzels. I then mix the whole lot together at home in my big Tupperware bowl and divide the mixture into small zip snack bags. This is a special treat for the kids (which has gotten more expensive with more kids to feed), but it's traditional for Macduff family road trips.
We also packed picnic lunches on the days we had long drives. So instead of stopping at a restaurant where the kids would have had to be relatively quiet and still (which they had already been doing in the van), we stopped at parks along the way. The kids all got to run around and yell to their heart's content. Plus, it was easier on the budget.
We listened to audio books during the long hours of driving. I had purchased a few good ones at the homeschool conference this past spring (I got a deal for buying them as a bundle) and had tucked them away knowing that they would be perfect for our trip. The books are true historical accounts read by Victoria Botkin.
We listened to A Bride Goes West on the way down to the mountains. We all were completely captivated by this story, so much so that I didn't even have to pull out any of the little dollar store prizes I had gotten to ward off the dull drums and not one "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer?" was uttered. This book is what kept the kids from a complete meltdown when we found out the restaurant at which we were to have our Saturday dinner was without electricity and couldn't feed us. We had to travel another half an hour down the road before we could get to another restaurant. We were near the end of listening to A Bride Goes West when we traveled this extra stretch of road, so the time went by quickly.
We listened to An English Family in the American Wilderness on the way back home. We all really liked this book as well and I for one am glad I'm not a pioneer. In addition, our family is almost done listening to The Letterbook of Eliza Lucas Pinckney and we're looking forward to listening to Abigail Adams: Her Letters.
As I mentioned, I did pack a few dollar store toys for the trip. The morning that all the big people climbed Macduff Peak, I was able to pull out sidewalk chalk, bubbles and balls to help entertain the little ones and pass the time back at the base camp while we we watied for the rest of our party to return.
The other ways we tried to keep kids calm and preserve our own sanity during our vacation was by sticking as closely to our normal routine as possible. We made sure everyone got fed at our normal meal times (with a couple of exceptions), we tried to get everyone to bed at their normal bedtimes and we continued to observe quiet time (at least for the littles).
The Macduff t-shirts that Matt's parents had given everyone on the first leg of our trip came in really handy on the second leg of our vacation. I made everyone wear their shirt (Mom and Dad included) to the aquarium. I knew it would be crowded there and that it would be easier to keep track of everyone if we were all in the same "uniform." The t-shirts made my job of repeatedly counting to seven much more manageable.
The result of all the advanced planning before we left on vacation was that the chaos of a week away from home was minimized and we were able to actually enjoy our vacation.
First off, I made sure we had snacks (and plenty of them) to eat in the car. Whenever we travel, I hit the Winco bulk section before we go. I buy several different kinds of trail mixes, nuts, dried fruits and yogurt covered pretzels. I then mix the whole lot together at home in my big Tupperware bowl and divide the mixture into small zip snack bags. This is a special treat for the kids (which has gotten more expensive with more kids to feed), but it's traditional for Macduff family road trips.
We also packed picnic lunches on the days we had long drives. So instead of stopping at a restaurant where the kids would have had to be relatively quiet and still (which they had already been doing in the van), we stopped at parks along the way. The kids all got to run around and yell to their heart's content. Plus, it was easier on the budget.
We listened to audio books during the long hours of driving. I had purchased a few good ones at the homeschool conference this past spring (I got a deal for buying them as a bundle) and had tucked them away knowing that they would be perfect for our trip. The books are true historical accounts read by Victoria Botkin.
We listened to A Bride Goes West on the way down to the mountains. We all were completely captivated by this story, so much so that I didn't even have to pull out any of the little dollar store prizes I had gotten to ward off the dull drums and not one "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer?" was uttered. This book is what kept the kids from a complete meltdown when we found out the restaurant at which we were to have our Saturday dinner was without electricity and couldn't feed us. We had to travel another half an hour down the road before we could get to another restaurant. We were near the end of listening to A Bride Goes West when we traveled this extra stretch of road, so the time went by quickly.
We listened to An English Family in the American Wilderness on the way back home. We all really liked this book as well and I for one am glad I'm not a pioneer. In addition, our family is almost done listening to The Letterbook of Eliza Lucas Pinckney and we're looking forward to listening to Abigail Adams: Her Letters.
As I mentioned, I did pack a few dollar store toys for the trip. The morning that all the big people climbed Macduff Peak, I was able to pull out sidewalk chalk, bubbles and balls to help entertain the little ones and pass the time back at the base camp while we we watied for the rest of our party to return.
The other ways we tried to keep kids calm and preserve our own sanity during our vacation was by sticking as closely to our normal routine as possible. We made sure everyone got fed at our normal meal times (with a couple of exceptions), we tried to get everyone to bed at their normal bedtimes and we continued to observe quiet time (at least for the littles).
The Macduff t-shirts that Matt's parents had given everyone on the first leg of our trip came in really handy on the second leg of our vacation. I made everyone wear their shirt (Mom and Dad included) to the aquarium. I knew it would be crowded there and that it would be easier to keep track of everyone if we were all in the same "uniform." The t-shirts made my job of repeatedly counting to seven much more manageable.
The result of all the advanced planning before we left on vacation was that the chaos of a week away from home was minimized and we were able to actually enjoy our vacation.
Travel: Budgets
I thought I'd share a few of the thrifty ideas we recently used to get through a week long vacation with seven kids without breaking the bank. You can read about that vacation here and here.
Obviously, renting a house at the beach during prime vacation season isn't exactly "thrifty," but we saved up for it and we had a great time. The other major costs of the trip were gas and food. I couldn't do much about the cost of gas (we did fill up at Costco once, which helped some), but I knew I could save on food.
Our twelve passenger van doesn't have a ton of cargo space, so I knew packing as little as possible would be essential. However, beach towns are notoriously overpriced when it comes to groceries and the like, so I really wanted to pack as much food, paper plates, cups, etc. as we could possibly manage.
During the weeks before we took the trip, I used every available brain cell I had to come up with a menu plan for the week of our vacation. I also asked friends for ideas. The parameters I was working around were these: the meals needed to be freezable (so that I could make them ahead of time), easy to prepare once we were at the beach house (I didn't want to spend too much vacation time in the kitchen), special (I didn't want the same old fare we have at home) and could not include pasta or casseroles (some people's taste buds wouldn't tolerate these).
I also knew that the first night in the mountains and the first and last nights at the beach would have to be extra easy prep wise, because we'd be busy unpacking/packing. Plus, no menu items could be cooked on a grill because we wouldn't have one. No problem, right?
Here's the plan I came up with:
breakfasts: waffles (made at home, frozen, then toasted each morning), eggs (from Paul's chickens) and sausage.
lunches: leftovers from the previous night's dinner, pb & j or turkey sub sandwiches, chips, fruit
snacks: granola bars and Nabisco mini cookies (bought before the trip with coupons for super cheap or free), trail mix (from the bulk bins at Winco), grapes
dinners: cabbage burgers, tostadas with homemade burrito filling and various toppings, chicken enchiladas (served with mexican rice and refried beans) and white chicken chili (served with cornbread). We also ate pizza two nights.
I made all the dinners and sides ahead of time and froze them in disposable containers. We packed all of the dinners into one small cooler along with some dry ice and everything stayed frozen solid for the whole trip to the mountains (about seven hours), at which point we put everything into the freezer in the rental house.
We ate lunch out twice. Once was a planned outing to Mo's. We sold a few things on Craigslist before we left to cover this one. The other time we ate lunch out was unplanned (more on that later).
When we left the mountains to go to the beach, we stopped at Costco on the way. We were able to stock up on fresh produce, bread, breakfast sausage and more lunch meat there. When we ran out of milk and mustard later that week, I headed to the Rite Aid in Lincoln City. My twenty percent off Wellness card discount actually made those items cheaper there than they would have been at Safeway.
Speaking of Safeway, I don't normally shop there, but before we left I checked the coupon blogs for good deals to be had that week. I knew once we arrived in Lincoln City, I would purchase grapes for 99 cents a pound. I was also able to load a couple of e-coupons to my loyalty card which helped defray the costs of the obligatory ice cream (thanks, Dad) and a few other little items.
When we arrived in Lincoln City, Matt and I visited the chamber of commerce office to get the scoop on fun stuff to do and check for coupons for local activities. The women there were super helpful. They gave us coupons for free kid's admissions to the aquarium in Newport. They also told us about the free-to-borrow sand wheel chair that was available through the local Elks Club. The wheelchair worked out great for my mom who just had had knee replacement surgery. I was also able to pick up some Papa Murphey's pizza coupons there, which came in handy for my dad (since he treated) our last night at the beach. The women at the chamber office also told us about Regatta Park, which we never would have known about had they not told us.
We had a blast flying all of our kites on the beach. Three of those kites were purchased by my dad as gifts to the kids on a previous beach trip that we took together about ten years ago. One kite (a big beautiful one with dolphins on it) we found abandoned on the beach on a different trip some years back. The other two kites, both intricate in design, are kites I purchased at yard sales. The only expense related to the kites was the purchase of a few replacement rods and a couple of new spools of string at the kite store in Lincoln City (not exactly free, but necessary to make some of the kites flyable).
In the weeks before the trip, I picked up water socks and sandals for all the kids at yard sales and Goodwill. When I buy used shoes, I just throw them in my front loader washing machine before we wear them. They come out cootie free (at least enough for me, anyway). Grace also found a pair of North Face pants similar to these at Goodwill to wear on the trip. We paid $2.99 for a pair of pants that looked liked they had never been worn.
Before we left on the trip, Matt and I looked into getting a cargo carrier like this one to go on the back of the van, but the price tag seemed pretty steep for something we thought we might only use once a year. Matt remembered that my aunt and uncle had given us a bike rack hitch several years ago. So he and Paul fastened a sheet of plywood to it to make a shelf. Then, to make the surface less slick, they screwed an outdoor mat made of old tires(cut to fit) onto the wood. This provided a "grippy" surface with enough room to accommodate our huge white cooler as well as our small red cooler. The coolers were then tied down with straps. I'm pleased to say that the coolers made to entire trip there and back with nary an accident.
So all in all, I would say we were successful at staying within our vacation budget. The two unplanned budget events were two meals that required emergency stops for burgers. One meal was eaten after we left the Newport Aquarium. We hadn't planned on being there so late, so we stopped at 2 p.m. and ate lunch at Arctic Circle.
The second unplanned burger outing was on the return trip. Isaac began screaming in his car seat about an hour from home and we could do nothing to appease him. So instead of pushing through a stressful drive to get home for a late dinner, we decided to stop. A visit to a burger joint, even with shared orders of fries and waters all around to drink (and a diet coke for da mama), ends up costing us around $30. But at that point, Matt and I decided our sanity was worth thirty dollars.
So there ya have it. Vacation Macduff style--not as fancy as some, not as thrifty as others, but it worked for us.
Obviously, renting a house at the beach during prime vacation season isn't exactly "thrifty," but we saved up for it and we had a great time. The other major costs of the trip were gas and food. I couldn't do much about the cost of gas (we did fill up at Costco once, which helped some), but I knew I could save on food.
Our twelve passenger van doesn't have a ton of cargo space, so I knew packing as little as possible would be essential. However, beach towns are notoriously overpriced when it comes to groceries and the like, so I really wanted to pack as much food, paper plates, cups, etc. as we could possibly manage.
During the weeks before we took the trip, I used every available brain cell I had to come up with a menu plan for the week of our vacation. I also asked friends for ideas. The parameters I was working around were these: the meals needed to be freezable (so that I could make them ahead of time), easy to prepare once we were at the beach house (I didn't want to spend too much vacation time in the kitchen), special (I didn't want the same old fare we have at home) and could not include pasta or casseroles (some people's taste buds wouldn't tolerate these).
I also knew that the first night in the mountains and the first and last nights at the beach would have to be extra easy prep wise, because we'd be busy unpacking/packing. Plus, no menu items could be cooked on a grill because we wouldn't have one. No problem, right?
Here's the plan I came up with:
breakfasts: waffles (made at home, frozen, then toasted each morning), eggs (from Paul's chickens) and sausage.
lunches: leftovers from the previous night's dinner, pb & j or turkey sub sandwiches, chips, fruit
snacks: granola bars and Nabisco mini cookies (bought before the trip with coupons for super cheap or free), trail mix (from the bulk bins at Winco), grapes
dinners: cabbage burgers, tostadas with homemade burrito filling and various toppings, chicken enchiladas (served with mexican rice and refried beans) and white chicken chili (served with cornbread). We also ate pizza two nights.
I made all the dinners and sides ahead of time and froze them in disposable containers. We packed all of the dinners into one small cooler along with some dry ice and everything stayed frozen solid for the whole trip to the mountains (about seven hours), at which point we put everything into the freezer in the rental house.
We ate lunch out twice. Once was a planned outing to Mo's. We sold a few things on Craigslist before we left to cover this one. The other time we ate lunch out was unplanned (more on that later).
When we left the mountains to go to the beach, we stopped at Costco on the way. We were able to stock up on fresh produce, bread, breakfast sausage and more lunch meat there. When we ran out of milk and mustard later that week, I headed to the Rite Aid in Lincoln City. My twenty percent off Wellness card discount actually made those items cheaper there than they would have been at Safeway.
Speaking of Safeway, I don't normally shop there, but before we left I checked the coupon blogs for good deals to be had that week. I knew once we arrived in Lincoln City, I would purchase grapes for 99 cents a pound. I was also able to load a couple of e-coupons to my loyalty card which helped defray the costs of the obligatory ice cream (thanks, Dad) and a few other little items.
When we arrived in Lincoln City, Matt and I visited the chamber of commerce office to get the scoop on fun stuff to do and check for coupons for local activities. The women there were super helpful. They gave us coupons for free kid's admissions to the aquarium in Newport. They also told us about the free-to-borrow sand wheel chair that was available through the local Elks Club. The wheelchair worked out great for my mom who just had had knee replacement surgery. I was also able to pick up some Papa Murphey's pizza coupons there, which came in handy for my dad (since he treated) our last night at the beach. The women at the chamber office also told us about Regatta Park, which we never would have known about had they not told us.
We had a blast flying all of our kites on the beach. Three of those kites were purchased by my dad as gifts to the kids on a previous beach trip that we took together about ten years ago. One kite (a big beautiful one with dolphins on it) we found abandoned on the beach on a different trip some years back. The other two kites, both intricate in design, are kites I purchased at yard sales. The only expense related to the kites was the purchase of a few replacement rods and a couple of new spools of string at the kite store in Lincoln City (not exactly free, but necessary to make some of the kites flyable).
In the weeks before the trip, I picked up water socks and sandals for all the kids at yard sales and Goodwill. When I buy used shoes, I just throw them in my front loader washing machine before we wear them. They come out cootie free (at least enough for me, anyway). Grace also found a pair of North Face pants similar to these at Goodwill to wear on the trip. We paid $2.99 for a pair of pants that looked liked they had never been worn.Before we left on the trip, Matt and I looked into getting a cargo carrier like this one to go on the back of the van, but the price tag seemed pretty steep for something we thought we might only use once a year. Matt remembered that my aunt and uncle had given us a bike rack hitch several years ago. So he and Paul fastened a sheet of plywood to it to make a shelf. Then, to make the surface less slick, they screwed an outdoor mat made of old tires(cut to fit) onto the wood. This provided a "grippy" surface with enough room to accommodate our huge white cooler as well as our small red cooler. The coolers were then tied down with straps. I'm pleased to say that the coolers made to entire trip there and back with nary an accident.
So all in all, I would say we were successful at staying within our vacation budget. The two unplanned budget events were two meals that required emergency stops for burgers. One meal was eaten after we left the Newport Aquarium. We hadn't planned on being there so late, so we stopped at 2 p.m. and ate lunch at Arctic Circle.The second unplanned burger outing was on the return trip. Isaac began screaming in his car seat about an hour from home and we could do nothing to appease him. So instead of pushing through a stressful drive to get home for a late dinner, we decided to stop. A visit to a burger joint, even with shared orders of fries and waters all around to drink (and a diet coke for da mama), ends up costing us around $30. But at that point, Matt and I decided our sanity was worth thirty dollars.
So there ya have it. Vacation Macduff style--not as fancy as some, not as thrifty as others, but it worked for us.
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